“It brings the school together to help a great cause,” said Lauren Bell, 16.

The fundraiser is planned and organized by the student Leadership class at the high school. For every cell phone turned in for the duration of the school day, Lake Orion Leadership donated one dollar to the charity.

Lori Hogan, leadership adviser, said 85 percent of the school participated in the event in 2017, raising about $5,000 for the charity.

“This is the fourth year we’ve done the event, so our seniors have participated all four years,” Hogan said. “It’s cool to see something has come full circle.”

As students walked into the high school Friday morning, they were greeted by leadership students who collected their phones.

Once each student turned in their phone, they were able to get an event shirt to wear throughout the day and take home.

More than $3,000 was raised in the first year of the event and in 2016 the donation total exceeded $4,000.

“It’s super exciting,” said Lily Woityra, 14. “It’s cool that we’re all uniting for a cause.”

Cell Phones for Soldiers is a nonprofit organization that provides communication services and emergency funding to troops and veterans.